Rep. Ron Paul has surprised pundits and his rivals with his fundraising.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Presidential campaigns and supporters use all sorts of gimmicks to try and raise money, such as celebrating birthdays, winning a chance to dine with a candidate and marking November 5 as an anniversary.

Huh? November 5?

Supporters of Rep. Ron Paul’s presidential bid are using this date to help boost the Texas Republican’s campaign coffers, in what is being described as a massive grassroots on-line fundraising drive. The significance? Well, in English history a gentleman by the name of Guy Fawkes tried to blow up Houses of Parliament, which was the subject of the recent film “V for Vendetta.”

One of the leaders behind the Paul fundraising drive said the message is not violent, but rather a fundraising idea that spread virally on-line. Paul’s presidential campaign said the idea did not come from the Texas congressman, but they are promoting the progress of this fundraising drive. As of late Monday afternoon, the Paul campaign claims it raised over $2.7 million, a figure that cannot be independently confirmed until Federal Election Commission reports are filed at the end of the year.

Paul, who is registering in the low single digits in most polls, raised $5 million in the third quarter fundraising period.

soundoff(372 Responses)

So much for SPAM, huh? Folks, you can't spam cold hard cash. Ron Paul is a real candidate with a real message, and a breath of fresh air from the rest of the bunch. He's certainly not the "same old same old" that we're exposed to with these "front runners". Hillary, Obama, McCain, Giuliani... they're all the same.

Not quite good enough reporting!!! Ron Paul made much more than that. And it seems you are the only folks who think this is not big news!!! I am so disappointed with your level of reporting on Ron Paul...too bad you are bought and paid for by the media controllers...it is soooo obvious!!!

Good for you Ron Paul.I dont agree with your total hands off policy for every thing,but at least your not owned and paid for by Big Oil and other Multi-National Corporations, whom dont give a spit about the middle class and working folks.

Thanks for covering the biggest fundraising story of the election cycle.

It is worth mentioning that November 5th is also the one year mark until the general election. That's another motivation for choosing the fifth. The "V for Vendetta" tie-in is more or less for fun. It is a good marketing idea. "Remember, remember the fifth of November..."

As far as "V for Vendetta" is concerned, I hope the media chooses to focus on the peaceful civil disobedeince of the citizens in the movie over the blowing up of buildings by V. (Albeit, EMPTY buildings.)

Why does the headline on CNN's home page say Ron Paul "claims" to raise...? If it were Hillary Clinton, would the word "claim" be in there? Honestly? Does the media think it is internet bots that are donating, rather than real, live people?

The media is losing a lot of credibility with a lot of people because it has largely ignored the phenomena of this election cycle - the Ron Paul campaign. And we notice these things.

Fox "News" is the worst. They have actually shown straw poll results and left out Ron Paul's numbers when he finished fourth, even though they reported who came in fifth and sixth. There are a lot of examples of these things captured on YouTube. "Keeping them honest" as Anderson Cooper might say.

Sorry you could have done alot to stop the war....why do you think we should elect you while you are affiliated with this party....
I could have voted for you if you are Independent or strong democrat or some other party other than republican. This time around you have to feel the pinch. An apple falls around its tree......

It's funny how you continue to lie about Ron Paul's polls...low digit...PLEASE! He's definitely the best candidate we have running...it's 10:42pm and he has now almost raised $3.7 Million...why don't you wake up and smell what you've been shoveling! His Alexa internet rating is over 110,000 places ahead of Guiliani so go ahead continue to lie to the public...or you can try too...obviously there are a lot more Ron Paul supporters than you want to admit to, starting to look like enough to win...it will take some big election fraud to overcome this problem good to know you are doing your part. Are you scared yet?

I donated early this morning and have been listening to RonPaulRadio, browsing chatrooms and monitoring the status of the fundraiser all day. This is real! Ron has earned over 3,800,000 as of 10:30 PM (eastern time). Dr. Paul has already passed Mit with the GOP record of funds raised in one day and we're aiming for Kerry's all time record of $5.7 million. This is real! this is a Revolution! We'll give them a November the 5th they'll never forget!

Try 3.8 Million now. And while it's not verified by the FEC, a claim like that is still impressive. Also, Ron Paul has some better pictures, try using them rather then letting your not so subtle editorial bias through.

Ron Paul is not the underdog in this race. He is the top dog that Main Stream Media is not willing to recognize!

Thank you again.

Americans need to ask themselves, on a day like today, where a huge number of Americans have banded together to say ( through their donations ) that they want Ron Paul to represent them, why is he still only getting a fraction of the news coverage that other candidates are receiving.

My husband and I donated our $200. Today. You can bet that the numbers ARE real.
It’s all about the message, and we the people are ready to be heard! Money talks. Main stream media can’t cover up that.

I donated over $200 this week, and my husband has already maxed out on his donations. What's phenomenal is that his donations are coming from individuals, NOT special interest groups. The people are attempting to buy back our country from special interests by electing Dr. Paul!

It appears as if the hold the Mainstream Media (CBS/NBC/CNN) had over the public is crumbling in their steadfast stance in support of the puppet candidates that merely parrot "popular" ideas and rhetoric. These are real people donating real money to a cause they feel can get them out of the hole the Republicans (Bush, Cheney) and Democrats (Pelosi, Reid) have left them sitting in. The reasons for the "War on Terror" were a lie and American citizens and their freedoms are dying for that very lie. Ron Paul is a man of honor, served his country faithfully in the Air Force as a Flight Surgeon, which is more than can be said about the chicken-hawks running our nation at this time. Let's have some honest news about all the candidates running and give equal speaking time to all – who knows, we just might learn something...

Why does the mainstream media continue to ignore and demean a man who has a lifetime record of supporting & defending the document(Constitution of the United States)which established our form of government? Please make an effort to be more fair & balanced with coverage of Congressman Ron Paul!